Course notes
A downloadable PDF full of further insight, scripts, and exercises for each lesson, to help you put theory into practice.
Ever wanted to create your own TV series?
Learn how, from the award-winning creator of Bodyguard, Trigger Point and Line of Duty.
For anyone who wants to write great TV, online series or films. Jed takes you from ideas to final script to getting it made. Notebook, pen, and a love for TV recommended.
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How to turn inspiration into great TV with Line of Duty writer, Jed Mercurio
Jed Mercurio is one of Britain’s most successful television writers. The award-winning creator of Bodyguard, Trigger Point and Line of Duty will show you how to master mystery, jeopardy, and structure to create edge-of-your-seat drama.
Begin your journey into television writing and discover your value as a new writer.
Where do you find ideas for your own television series? Jed will show you.
How to take your inspiration and turn it into a premise for a TV series.
Learn about the different types of series, and what every long-running TV show must have.
How to create successful settings and invigorate well-trodden paths.
How characters affect the world you’ve built. Recognising, using and twisting TV tropes.
Discover different ways to bring the audience into your world.
How to pitch, plan and create an incredible outline for your own television pilot.
Using structure and ambition to develop a more dynamic television series.
Conceiving events that have a profound effect on your characters and story.
Critical mass and chain reaction - how to construct explosive moments and the natural story that follows.
Creating impact, raising the stakes, and leaving your audience wanting more.
How to stop backstory and flashbacks damaging your story.
Creating and connecting evocative story strands.
Exciting and diverse episodes, shocking your audience, and avoiding the mid-season dip.
What is a series bible? What fundamental questions should it answer?
Shaping key moments in your series and showcasing your characters.
Mystery - how to keep viewers guessing and invested.
Jeopardy - keeping your audience on the edge of their seats.
Forward Momentum - powerful ways to keep your story moving.
Why Jed believes, against popular opinion, that dialogue is the least important element in your script.
Confusion - avoiding incoherence and the loss of your audience.
Implausibility - coincidence, Deus ex Machina, and making events unpredictable yet plausible.
Boredom - how to stop your…yawn… audience from getting bored.
The qualities you need to be a successful television writer.
In television there are three main fallacies. Here’s how to prove them wrong.
Jed demystifies the challenges professional writers face during production.
Simple ways to break into the television industry.
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A downloadable PDF full of further insight, scripts, and exercises for each lesson, to help you put theory into practice.
Gotta say the @jedmercurio class online is the best £80 I've ever spent! Recommended.
- A.A. Dhand
Very comprehensive covering everything from thinking about ideas for scripts through to how to develop a career as a scriptwriter.
- Liz Marley
I liked the quality and amount of video content, and a teacher that made everything clear.
- Sarah Crockford
Very informative, clearly understands the subject & shared his experiences, lots of pointers & the pitfalls to watch out for.
- Terry May
Jed Mercurio was a great tutor. He was extremely clear and honest, giving us the benefit of his own very wide experience in a concise way, often with clear examples. He covered all aspects of screenwriting combined with answering all of the questions that prospective screenwriters need to know.
- Heather Dunmore
Jed's use of analogies that uses his previous careers to highlight the writer's control of plot. Very helpful in developing my series bible and first pilot episode script.
- Neil T Humphries
I bought his course for myself and I'm gonna agree it's the best £80 I've ever spent, and off the back of this course I've managed to write my first pilot script from scratch thank you Jed.
- Becky
The course is well structured and Jed provides clear explanation about each topic and examples of each element to better explain the context and purpose behind each piece of advice.
- Mike Wheeler
@jedmercurio have absolutely LOVED your @bbcmaestro course. It will, no doubt, be something I return to regularly. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom.
- Melissa
When work deadlines dried up in 2020 I became a course addict but it is Jed Mercurio's course that made me feel like I could take my writing efforts to fruition. There is such clarity and inspiration in every lesson. This fabulous course exceeds all expectations and I feel lucky to have found it.
- Varda Tully
Thank you for this fabulously constructed course. Jed is a fantastic teacher.
- Rik Zak
There is so much information that industry outsiders would take months to find out for themselves. The supporting workbook is full of useful information and exercises and the videos are clear and easy to understand. It's really well put together.
- Isobel Henderson
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How to turn inspiration into great TV with Line of Duty writer, Jed Mercurio